Mount Halcon Climb 2014

Mount Halcon has eluded a lot of mountaineers ever since it was closed in 2006. Still many wanted to climb it so they made their way up the summit without securing proper permits. Oftentimes these kind of climbs were a success story but there were several news that these so-called “NINJA” climbs resulted in accidents and sadly deaths.

2014 was a happy year for us who have waited to climb Mount Halcon. News that Mount Halcon was already open echoed all over the mountaineering community. Although one account gave news that the mountain was still closed, the funny thing was, the one reporting it posted photos of his climb there which happened recently. So our group got curious and we contacted the local government of Baco. Our curiosity paid-off and we were given permits to climb Mount Halcon last April 3-6, 2014.

I won’t give a blow-by-blow account on how our climb transpired. Detailed Itinerary is located here. I will just highlight some parts of our climb.

DAY 0/1

I had the pleasure of driving my vehicle from Batangas, crossing the sea via RoRo to Calapan then to Baco Oriental Mindoro. We had to visit the Municipal Hall and Police Station to personally claim the permits. The permits will then be presented to the different Sitios or Barangays that we will pass along our way to Mount Halcon Summit.

When we arrived in Barangay Mayabig Jump-off, we were greeted by our guides and porters. If you are going to ask me how much is the guide and porter fees, I could not say. It seemed that they don’t have a standard fee for everyone, so the only suggestion I can give you is to contact Baco Municipal Hall and ask them how much the fees are.

Mount Halcon

Team ready to climb!

Mount Halcon

Great weather to climb Mount Halcon

Mount Halcon

One of the wet crossings we encountered. It was summer so we were not worried about flash floods

 

DAY 2

We had to “quicken” our pace to reach Karwayan Campsite early in the afternoon. Some of us again experienced another e-camp since it was risky to do a night trek.

Mount Halcon

The so-called Mindoro Pine Trees in the Aplaya Campsite, which are really another variant of Century Trees usually found in the mountains of the Philippines

Mount Halcon

Mike and Aries enjoying the cool clear water of Dulangan River

Mount Halcon

Team resting with smiles despite the difficult and limatik infested climb

 

DAY 3

We reached the summit awe-struck of the view!!!

Mount Halcon

Praise God!!! Sea of clouds at the summit!!!

Mount Halcon

Congratulations SMB Team Halcon 2014!!!

At the summit I was really praising and thanking God for the opportunity. I was so happy but it was cut short when I received a call from my wife informing me that my co-pianist in our choir was killed. I could not help but cry and cry while making my way back down to Karwayan Camp Site. All I can do was pray hard and I offered the climb in his memory…………………

From Karwayan we made our way to Aplaya Campsite where we will spend the night.

DAY 4

Mount Halcon

Breaking Camp in Aplaya Campsite early in the morning

On our way back to our Jump-off in Barangay Mayabig, we experienced a bit of rain and lots and lots and lots of Limatiks. For Days 1 to 3, I was never bitten once despite many clung to my clothes, pack and face!!! For Day 4, the limatiks were so so so so so many that few of them were successful in biting me.

Mount Halcon

The infamous limatiks of Mount Halcon attacked us on our way back to the jump-off!!!

Around 2 PM we were back in Barangay Mayabig. We enjoyed swimming in the cool river as much as we enjoyed the food 🙂

Mount Halcon

Mike, Odhie, Dorothy, Aries and Leo enjoying the cool river in Barangay Mayabig

I would like to give my warmest thanks to Mam Odhie who helped in organizing this climb, securing our guide and permits. My deepest thanks to the whole team, Sir Leo, Mike, Aries, Jann, Mark, Rhian, Ronrei, Mam Dorothy and Odhie. You guys ROCK!!!

To God our King Who Is Most Powerful and Whose Love never fails, THANK YOU for giving us the opportunity to do this climb, for giving us the strength and patience, and for keeping us safe. All Power and Glory is YOURS now and forever!!!

For more photos of our climb click HERE

8 comments

  1. Sheryl says:

    Sir, the photos are deceiving – parang wala lang sa inyo. Haha. Else, they’re to show that you guys are certified hard-core mountaineers 😉 😀 Looking forward to our next major climb!

    • Mam you know me. I do not use the word hardcore. I personally don’t deserve to be called like that. I just wanted to post the great moments during this climb because twice I felt so sad in the course of the climb.

      As always thanks for posting comments here 🙂 I’m also looking forward to our future adventures with our dear smberks 😉

      Let’s climb!!!

  2. Sayang na sayang!!! Ang ganda nung river ba yun?? 😉

    • Dulangan river Sir Billy. Yes maganda talaga at napaka klaro at linis ng tubig all the way to jump off!!! Sana di masira. Balak ko nga mag roadtrip doon magpi picnic lang sa may river sa jump off 🙂

  3. Cal Sanchez says:

    Hi Sir!

    Gusto ko lang sana tanong tungkol sa COntact details sa LGU na nag-aaprove ng permit to climb Mount Halcon.. Our group is actually planning to scale it during Chinese Year Next Year since Public Holiday yun dito sa Singapore.. (18-22Feb 2015).. And as much as possible we like to secure a permit on those dates… I’ve scaled Halcon 2003-2004 but this time i think is a different story… its more strict nowadays… I would appreciate if you could address my queries sir… More power to your group! And more mountains to climb!

    Salute!
    Caloy

  4. […] Mount Halcon is LEECHY! Oh nooooo! […]

  5. noel f. salvacion says:

    Hi! po sa lahat, naghahanap po ako ng group na aakyat ng mt. halcon makikisabit lang, thanks.

    • Hello Noel,

      For now wala kami schedule po for Mount Halcon but you are welcome to join the group. Please visit our forum and register. We announce meeting schedules and I encourage you to attend so that we can mingle and get to know you.

      Thank you for visiting the site.

      Jimmar

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